Years of Living Dangerously, Years of Opportunity

Above, watch the trailer for "Years of Living Dangerously" and the panel discussion with Thomas Friedman during the 2014 Spring Meetings. Below, watch the premiere episode.

Fueled by warmer temperatures and added moisture in the air, a storm system coils like a snake ready to strike. Rising seas stand poised to obliterate shoreline developments and cityscapes. The brown, dry soil of once-verdant farmland threatens food security[2] for millions, all while the number of mouths to feed grows. Wildfires rage and burning peat lands belch black carbon and greenhouse gases into our thin shell of an atmosphere.

And that’s how climate change[3] is affecting real people, right now, all over the globe. “Years of Living Dangerously[4]” on SHOWTIME® features an exceptional cast of world-class journalists and celebrity reporters documenting the impact of climate change worldwide. Over nine episodes, we show that climate change is 100% a people story.

World leaders just affirmed the latest in a series of reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change[5], the Nobel Prize-winning authority on climate science. These reports are uncompromising in their assessment that climate change is real, it’s us, it's now, it's getting worse, and we’re not prepared. The latest report makes clear we have the clean energy technologies to start slashing carbon pollution at very low cost, much lower than the cost of inaction – but the window to act is closing fast.

These are the years of living dangerously. But they are also years of hope. We are the first generation to know that climate change is a clear and present danger, and also the last generation that can stop it. World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim[6] often describes a vision of young children in the future, turning back to their fathers and asking, "Dad, what did you do when you knew?"

Under Kim's leadership the Bank is doing a lot. It has frozen almost all investments in coal-fired power plants and is driving forward renewable energy projects with vigor and determination. It has sparked Connect4Climate[7], a global campaign and coalition intent on forging solutions to the greatest challenge of our time. A common vision led the World Bank Group to host the D.C. premiere of “Years” on April 10[8], during its annual Spring Meetings. We congratulate Program Manager Lucia Grenna and the Bank's Connect4Climate team for its passion and professionalism.

These are years of opportunity. Two decades ago we had much more flexibility to solve the climate crisis. But the problem was too abstract to mobilize the kind of public pressure needed to persuade our leaders to make a change – and clean energy technologies were only starting to emerge. Now both climate solutions and climate impacts have arrived. They are concrete and personal. And “Years” is showing just how personal they are.

Our action campaign, Act Now, is building on the climate campaigns of groups like 350.org, the Environmental Defense Fund, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Resources Defense Council, the National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, and many more. The aim is to revoke the license of leaders to continue business as usual. And this applies with special force to the global powers coming together for the 2015 climate negotiations in Paris. These talks might be the last chance for meaningful action before we cross tipping points we will be powerless to reverse.

For the first time since “An Inconvenient Truth,” we have a media vehicle with the potential to ignite a decisive conversation on climate. The combination of storytelling, star power, and masterful cinematography promises to empower those who are already concerned and engage those who aren’t. This isn't just about landmark television but about growing a global movement. We can and must work together to find solutions. We sincerely hope you watch the show – the biggest story of our time – with your friends and family and take a stand.

Years of Living Dangerously is a nine-part series, airing Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME®.